Like the Snow
by Motive Robot
Summary: A story in which Jack meets Elsa by chance and integrates himself into her life - more than he thought he would - and gets wrapped up in the budding troubles that are on their way to terrorize the queen.
1. Chapter 1

**Like the Snow**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

The dark water, so eerily similar to the clouded night sky, pushed against the ship, swaying it from its course home. Thunder clasped along with the roars of the waves and the yells of the crew that she could make out in nauseating clarity despite how far she stood from the ship. It tipped back in forth, the ship, in such narrow angles that in made her heart beat in rapid, thick pulses in her ears.

As the ship rode on a wave twice its height, making it tilt until it became almost vertical, she could numbly make out that it was going to sink. The ship was going to sink no matter how much she pleaded, no matter how much she begged some miracle may happen, and she could only watch as the wave engulfed the ship with sickening ease, surely carrying some unfortunate passengers off the boat into the grim depths of the ocean.

The ship, a large masterpiece that a talented group of craftsmen had built, was being torn apart by the rough, unrelenting waves that wanted the thing ripped apart piece by piece. It was a pity, she knew, that such a beautiful piece of work would be ultimately ruined because of the sharp claws of nature, but it wasn't the thing in the forefront of her mind. It was her nature, or rather something that was drilled into her, to worry first about the people. The crewmen and passengers, what is happening to them?

But, more importantly, what about her parents?

There was no denying it. In the back of her mind, where her fears lay in foreboding silence, a voice would speak in a sardonic voice all her worries. It didn't keep her from wishing that they would return home alright, so that everything could go back to normal again – or, at least, as normal as her life could get.

But they're never coming back. Look, don't you see? There's no way they could survive that storm.

She ignored it to the best of her abilities, the sly voice in her head, but she eventually fell, losing hopes in ever seeing her parents again. She collapsed, wrapping her arms around herself as she held back the sobs and desperate cries for the parents that so lovingly took care of her, even with this strange power she possessed. She closed her eyes, refusing to let the burning tears fall, and achingly wished that she could be deaf to the loud rumbles and screams that were so clear to her.

Don't look down now, the voice said mockingly. There's more to come.

Through the clashing of thunder, the chaotic waves, and the sullen gurgling of the sinking ship, she could hear, just faintly, a voice – no, two voices, who sounded so weak and distressed.

"We're sorry, Elsa, Anna..."

Her eyes shot open and anxious tingles ran through her body as she suddenly, desperately, got up and ran across the ocean, clumsily slipping and skidding on the frozen ice that was once raging waters. Her throat constricted painfully, the water around her rapidly freezing the ocean's water in a vain attempt to save her parents, and her mouth, lips trembling in fear of what was to come, opened in a scream.

"No!"

…

Elsa shot up from the bed, clutching the sheets between her fingers as she panted, attempting to compose herself. Her grip loosened, moving from the sheets to rub her face, and she sighed tiredly. Just a nightmare, she chanted in her head, it was just a nightmare. No more, no less, so just forget about it. However, even as she said this, she knew she wouldn't forget, she never did.

Nightmares of her parents' death always stubbornly stuck to her.

Icicles hung to the ceiling, looming eerily above her, particles of snow were frozen in the air, and the floor and walls were covered in a thin film of frost. She pushed herself off the bed, knowing well that she wouldn't be able to get anymore sleep tonight, and dressed herself semi-consciously, ending up wearing the crystal blue dress she wore when she ran away.

Bare-footed, she left her frozen room and walked down the carpeted hall, down the sleek, wooden steps of the staircase, and slipped through the aged door that led to the garden. A winter breeze was the first thing to welcome her it the outside, flowing through the individual strands of her hair and gently caressing her body with its cool, feather-like touch, soothing her frazzled nerves into serenity. The winter air always calmed her – the season in general brought a smile to her face.

She walked through the dead, browning grass, toes curling in delight of it all, as she let out bits of her magic, freezing random areas in slight ice. She smiled contentedly, twirling around the garden, everything she touched freezing over in the power that caused so much fear in her life – and still did, though to a lesser degree, even now.

The wind seemed to wrap around her in a strange way she never felt before, guiding her, encouraging her to display her magic all over the garden. She did, transforming every living thing in the garden – thankfully, the ducks were in their little home at the edge of the large garden – into crystal sculptures of ice. It was a lovely sight, with the ice glimmering in the morning light, and she wished that it could last a little longer, but the sun was rising and her duties were waiting.

As she was unfreezing the scene she made, snow began falling in such serenity that she paused in her work, staring at the strange phenomenon. Though it was indeed the winter season, snow was falling in too warm of a temperature – and she wasn't the one causing it. So, what or possibly who, then, was causing this beautiful feat?

Maybe she was just looking into it too deeply. Perhaps it was just a miracle of nature, but maybe, just maybe -

"I'm losing my head," she muttered to herself, shaking her head resolutely. "There's no way there could be anyone like that - anybody like me."

The flakes of snow slowed considerably in their descent, having nearly been suspended in the air due to Elsa's change in emotion. They almost immediately started back on their journey after a moment's pause, silently landing on the ground. Elsa glanced behind her and sighed, berating herself for not keeping her feelings in check, and walked back inside, blocking out the winter air she enjoyed with the sharp click of the wooden door.

Unbeknownst to her, the flakes of snow carefully merged into the ground, discretely freezing it into a faint, beautiful pattern. And there, perched on his staff in the air, was the one and only Jack Frost.

It was driven by boredom, coming here to this small, somewhat isolated kingdom. He remembered coming here once or twice during the winter to greet the people with some light snow, but he never really paid attention to it or even played around with the kids here - even though they most likely wouldn't be able to see him. He never thought that he would've missed out on such a discovery like this: a person who had similar abilities as his.

It made him giddy, honestly, and he couldn't get the grin off his face. He flew up into the sky, gliding in a random fashion to ease his excitement. He laughed, the pleasant sound echoing everywhere, but no one was there to hear it.

"There's someone like me!"

The moment somewhat reminded him of the time when Jamie saw him, when someone, for the first time in three hundred years, saw him. It was an unbelievably weight-lifting feeling and, for a few seconds, he felt high with his own happiness. Somehow, though, he felt that this time just slightly differed from that one.

It wasn't something that he could easily put into words - it seemed he had trouble with that, seeing as he had no real contact with anybody, excluding the other Guardians - and he gave up trying when he attempted to explain to himself just how this was different. it was just different, he decided, making some more snow fall. He may not know what he'll do next or what this unexpected find could possibly mean, but he knew that he wouldn't let that girl go no matter what, not without her making her believe in him first.

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**A/N:** Well, this is the first crossover fic for me, so advice/ comments/ reviews will be appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Like the Snow**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

She didn't look up when the door slammed open, already hearing the quick footfalls that could only belong to her sister from a mile away. Instead, she kept her eyes on the paperwork spread out across her desk, her hand flurrying across sheet after sheet, skimming through the written text with a trained eye. There was so much work she needed to get done.

She was no slacker by any means, but there had been reports of problem after problem in an endless flow. It was a river of problems and she was the one who had to pick and solve every last one of them. If it was water, she decided, she'd gladly freeze it just to give her a moment's rest.

"Elsa," the excited voice of her sister brightened the dreary atmosphere, "aren't you going to ever stop? I mean, _come on_! Your precious sister is about to leave to for a week and you don't even seemed the slightest bit worried."

Oh yeah.

She had completely forgotten about that.

Work had swamped her so suddenly – well, she was the queen, but she'd never experienced this much workload before – and she hadn't had the time to worry about any other matters except for the ones that arrived on her desk. It was insane, really, how fast her duties could pile up in an unsuspecting instant.

"I'm sorry, Anna," Elsa apologized, plucking another report from a random pile on her desk, giving her sister a weak smile. "It completely slipped my mind."

Anna dropped her usual smile, watching as her sister continued to work, only curiously glancing at her occasionally from what she was doing. She had been working for some time now, Anna noticed, but she had never complained or even talked about it. It was part of her job as queen after all, but there should be a limit to how much she did a day.

"Have you eaten yet?" Anna asked, walking up to the desk.

"Only the breakfast I ate when I woke up this morning," Elsa replied, continuing with her work.

Sometimes, it was a strange fact that she had to accept: Elsa woke up earlier than her just to do her job as queen. When they were little, she would be the one to jump on her to wake her up from her sleep, but now it seemed almost as if Elsa barely slept. Every time she saw her she would be up working on one thing or another, in meetings with her subordinates, or talking with some royal guest from who knew where.

It was time for this madness to stop.

"Elsa, can you come with me for a second?"

"Not now, Anna, I'm busy," her reply was strained, as if she wanted to go, but her duties held her back.

"Can't work wait a bit?" Anna pressed, wishing that Elsa would be a little less tight-laced.

"If I leave it alone for a second, it'll pile up to the ceiling," she deadpanned. She paused her writing and sighed, putting down the pen. "What is it?"

Anna grinned, "You, Elsa, need to take a break. There's no point in working yourself to the bone with work."

Before she could even protest, Anna grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out of the study.

…

Jack watched from his seat on the cushioned chair on one side of the study. He had followed the girl – Elsa, her name was – ever since he saw her outside. She wasn't really interesting indoors, he supposed, since all she did was work, work, and work. He was glad that that Anna girl managed to drag her out of the silent room.

He followed above them, absently spinning around as he turned the corners they turned and finally ended up in a gigantic ballroom._ What on earth are they planning to do in here? Dance?_ He floated up and sat on the railing on the second floor, chin in hand, watching as Anna brought Elsa into the middle of the room.

"Just like old times, Elsa," she said with a bright smile. "We haven't done this in so long!"

"I don't think we should, Anna," Elsa said skeptically. "What if something happens?"

Anna waved a dismissive hand, unfazed by her sister's words. "Then you can just fix it. It's as easy as that, right? You know how to stop the magic." She looked at her, her grin coming back as she carefully, happily said, "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Elsa chuckled good-naturedly, "We already have Olaf. He'll get jealous if we build another snowman."

"Or he'll happily accept his new friend," Anna retorted, " Besides, he needs another snowman he can talk to."

_Needs another snowman to talk to?_ Jack thought, a strange look on his face. Why would anyone need a snowman of all things to talk to? Jack had been alone for a _very_ long time and he never thought, not even once, of talking to a snowman for any reason. The thought was quickly pushed to the back of his mind as Jack watched Elsa smile, a beautiful action that seemed to brighten the room as much as – no, even more than her sister did. He jumped down from where he sat, walking around Elsa as her eyes lit up at something Anna said.

She was beautiful; the personification of every meaning of beauty.

He jumped when she passed through him, not batting an eye as she ran to catch her sister, shooting bolts of her power from her hands, laughing. That knocked some sense into him, sense that he always needed to be reminded of: no one could see him until they believed in him. It was a cruelty he experienced for centuries, being seen by no one and only having the company of solitude.

It all changed when he met Jamie and accepted to become a Guardian. He was able to talk to people - though somewhat limited, have them notice when he came and went, and, most of all, have their companionship. The knowledge that he wasn't so alone anymore kept him happy and content with the life he was brought into; he accepted his life as Jack Frost.

He had always wanted people to believe in him, but right now, he just wanted one more person to believe in him, and he would do what he had to do to make it so – even if he had to cause some impossibly cold storms in the middle of July just to make her notice.

Thankfully, it wasn't July. And hopefully, it wouldn't take her very long to persuade.

But that brought another troubling thought into his mind: what if she didn't even know who Jack Frost _was_? He actually wouldn't be all that surprised if she didn't. After all, he wasn't all that well known – not like the other Guardians. It would just mean that he'd have to do more work getting her to believe in him, but what should he do? Make snow fall inside a room?

He looked around, seeing a healthy pile of snow covering the ground, as Elsa and her sister commenced a snowball fight. He shook his head, thinking that the queen would probably mistake it as her own powers. Maybe, though, if he did it enough times, then she'd get the idea.

No, he should start smaller or, at least, from the beginning.

Introducing her to Jack Frost would be a good start, but how should he go about it? He thought of the different possible situations he could create, watching as the two sisters played in their personal winter-wonderland. His eyes lit up as an idea that seemed particularly easy popped into his mind, leaving the two to themselves as he went to go initiate his plan.

…

The sharp click of the closing door and the muffled steps against the carpeted floor signal Elsa's return. She managed to divert Anna's attention to Kristoff, who she saw just out of her eye through the window in the ballroom. Thankfully, her sister took the bait and left her in peace, letting her come back and reunite with her work.

Crossing the short distance from the door to the desk, Elsa stopped suddenly, seeing something shine out of the corner of her eye. Curious as to what it was, Elsa changed her course to the windowsill where she had seen the brief glimmer. A short figurine made of ice stood in the afternoon sun, not one drop of water on or around it.

It wasn't melting.

Ignoring the voice in the back of her mind speaking temptingly of someone who may have made this with some sort of ice magic, Elsa studied the small work of art before her. It was a vague ice sculpture of a person, having no characteristics except for the fact that there was a large question mark where the facial features should be. It held in its two outstretched arms, a small, neatly folded piece of paper.

_What on earth is this supposed to mean?_ She thought incredulously, looking at the figure on all sides, trying to find any tricks or traps it could possibly trigger. _Who made this?_

Possible answers popped into her mind: Anna, Olaf, maybe even Kristoff – he did work with ice after all, but she wondered about why any of them would do it._ Maybe it wasn't even them._ Thinking it was the only way to find out, Elsa picked up the small note.

_You may not know me,_

_But know it's true_

_That you were special_

_When I first saw you._

_-J_

She paused for one silent moment, just staring at the scribbled words.

Then her hand immediately shot up to her mouth, acting as a physical barrier to block her rising giggles. It was extremely cheesy and made her want to know even more than before who this person was. Who on earth would send such a childishly sweet note to her like this – and with the ice figurine, too? She laughed, folding the letter back to how it was and putting it back into the waiting hands of the ice sculpture.

"J, huh?" she said aloud, walking back to her desk. "Just who are you?"

She went back to her work, stealing glances at the artistic piece of ice that wouldn't melt, smiling whenever she looked at it. She never noticed the body of Jack Frost that sat next to her little gift, smiling with her whenever she looked his way.

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**A/N: **Glad to see that some people are interested in this story. Any feedback or comments are appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Like the Snow**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

She walked into the study before daybreak, covering her mouth to hide a yawn. Her eyes tiredly focused and took in her surroundings, blinking out the residue of her sleep. A smile settled on her lips when she spotted a note in the hands of her not-so-faceless-anymore gift. She plopped down next to it, sitting on the windowsill as she plucked the note from the sculpture's outstretched hands.

It had been only three days since the note-exchange started.

She had made a note of her own one day and set it at the little ice person's feet, hoping that since the notes that arrived were always at random times, her pen-pal would be able to see it. He did, thankfully, and sent back a note that informed her that he received it. After that she continued to send him notes, writing one whenever she felt like it and leaving it around the ice sculpture.

The sculpture had changed, she noticed. On the second day that she had received it a hoodie and pants decorated his body, seeming as if it had been constructed out of nowhere. She didn't question it and kept quiet, silently marveling how the ice change each day. She managed to conclude that if the ice was an accurate representation of how her note-writer looked like, then it was a he.

Opening the note, she read:

It's a nice day, isn't it? It looks like it'll snow any minute now. Maybe I could make it come just a bit quicker.

-Jack

He always implied that he could control the winter weather, occasionally commenting on how he should change it to suit his tastes. She asked him about it once through her notes, but he hadn't given her a straight answer. After that she never asked again, thinking that he was uncomfortable with the question. However, a little inkling had sprouted in the back of her mind that maybe he had that power.

Other than those comments, nothing particular made Jack stand out. He changed how he wrote after the first note, apologizing that writing in rhyme wasn't his thing, and that if he continued to do so he would eventually go insane. She didn't mind, anyway, since his notes made her feel like she was sending letters to a distant friend rather than an admirer that she didn't know of. That brought her to a different question that was bothering her:

Who exactly was Jack?

Before she could even dwell on the question, her sister called her from the other side of the door, "Elsa! Are you done yet?"

She didn't answer, thinking that maybe her sister would think that she was so busy doing whatever she was doing that she would be left in peace. Anna had been particularly nosy lately and she had no idea what to do about it. It wasn't like she didn't want to catch up on the lost time with Anna, but there should be a limit to how many times she busted through the door and pulled her away from her work.

Of course, she didn't leave. Instead, she knocked harder, sharper, against the door. "Elsa, I know you're in there! There's a limit to how much you work a day. You have to get out some more!"

"There's no limit to how much a queen can love her kingdom, Anna," Elsa said calmly, but loud enough for Anna to hear. "Working is just another way to express that love."

"Not until you're tired to the bone!" she retorted.

Elsa smiled at the immediate answer, but replied in a somewhat strict voice that'll surely get her point across to her stubborn sister. "It comes with the title, Anna, and I wholly accepted it. I need to do what I can to keep my kingdom alive and working – even if it means working to the point where I don't sleep."

In a softer voice, she added, "But I do sleep. And I go out and play with you every once in a while, so I'm perfectly fine. You don't have to keep pulling me away from work just to make sure I'm going out enough."

Anna grumbled lightly, "But if I don't you'll surely lock yourself up in here, day and night, just to take care of the kingdom."

Elsa leaned against the wall, sliding her thumb over the note in her hand with a small smile. "I don't see anything wrong with that. It's like a mother and her child."

"Don't some mothers let nurses take care of them?" Anna asked.

"That's not the point," Elsa said.

"I know, I know," Anna sighed. "I'll leave you alone, but you better come out, you hear? If you don't, I'll come in there and drag you out myself!"

Elsa laughed, "Yes, mother."

Anna's laugh died down as she went down the hall, leaving her sister to herself and her thoughts.

…

Jack watched as the elder of the two sisters stared at his note, seemingly thinking about something. He looked out the window she was sitting in front of and, seeing the grey clouds floating above the kingdom, he decided that he would make it snow faster than nature intended. He got up, floating above just barely Elsa as he let his wintry powers seep through the cracks of the window, letting it make its way into the clouds.

An unpleasant sensation shot itself through one of his leg and half his right hand, making him immediately jerk his appendage away from Elsa, who had passed through his body to gently set her hands against the cool glass of the window. She was looking outside, noticing the small flakes of snow making their journey down to the earth, silently in awe at the fact that it did snow.

"A man of his word, aren't you, Jack?" Elsa quietly said into the silent air, her breath fogging the glass just slightly.

Jack hummed in response, looking out the window from behind Elsa, still floating serenely above her. "Not always," he replied, knowing that she wouldn't hear him.

It didn't matter now that she wouldn't be able to see or hear him. He decided that this was alright, that this was enough to satiate his hunger for her to notice him. He was fine now and he didn't have to do any more to catch her attention.

She believed that he was the one who made it snow.

It was enough. She believed, if just for this moment in time, that Jack was able to control winter. He smiled, touching the glass and making it ice over at his slight touch. He drew, not really knowing what he was doing, but he drew whatever he liked.

Snowflakes. He drew them all over the top of the window, not caring if Elsa noticed because he knew she would. Because she still has some small belief in him and because she responded to his notes.

He stopped drawing when he felt blue eyes gazing through him.

Slowly moving away, he stood behind Elsa, watching as she got on her knees, hands still resting on the window, to get a better look at his drawings. He pointed his staff directly at the icy top of the window and made the ice grow over his childish impulse to draw, covering and erasing them before

Elsa could even think about what it was – or, more importantly, who made them.

Unfortunately, she noticed the sudden rapid growth of the ice desperately hiding the strokes, and she breathed out, slowly, quietly. Breaking her sight away from the abnormal ice, she felt the temperature drop. It wasn't enough that it could affect her – the cold never bothered her, but she felt it, the sudden dip, and she looked around her, seeing that her powers had leaked out and frosted over her perch up against the window.

She gasped as her ice came dangerously close to the ice sculpture, and picked it up out of harm's way. She forgot, though, that the magic came more powerfully out of her hands and watch in slight horror as her own ice imprisoned her unsuspecting ice person.

She stared.

And stared.

Then she laughed out of sheer relief. She was becoming overdramatic, she could easily reverse this small mishap. Maybe, she thought, I'm becoming a bit more like Anna.

She touched the ice covering the window, watching it melt into nothing as the residue of magic floated into the air. Gently tapping the sculpture's head, she watched as her ice receded, bringing back again the perfect ice of Jack's.

Well, the almost perfect ice.

Now, in true horror, she watched as her ice slowly disappeared, revealing the damage it had done to miniature Jack. Cracks, deep and shallow, marred the perfect, smooth ice it had been only seconds ago. So, Elsa did what she thought was right: She attempted to fix it.

She called on her powers to mend the broken ice, but nothing happened.

She tried and tried and tried, but nothing happened. She couldn't fix it. She could think of several reasons that it possibly cou – Alright, no she couldn't! She panicked, attempting everything she could possibly think of, but it just wouldn't work!

Jack watched as she cupped his broken gift in her pale hands, looking at it with crestfallen eyes. He debated on whether he should fix it or just leave it at that.

It would be best this way, he thought to himself, pacing back and forth, but just look at her! He glanced at the distressed queen who look as if she may cry. Alright, he was over exaggerating, but she did look depressed.

"Oh," the queen's uncharacteristically small voice brought him out of his musings. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I ruined this wonderful gift you gave me."

"It's perfectly alright," Jack mumbled, coming closer, watching as Elsa really did become slightly teary-eyed.

Girls could cry over almost anything, Jack concluded. But maybe, he added as an after-thought, that they only worried over the things and people they felt were truly special to them.

"Maybe he's here," he heard her mumble, confusing him. Who could possibly be in here besides her?

He jumped when she suddenly look at him, but then relaxed after her eyes darted elsewhere. He could have sworn that she was looking at him.

"Jack?"

He did a whole body turn toward Elsa who was looking around, as if she was lost and was trying to ask him for help. She continued to look around the room, not noticing him to be standing right there with her. He stayed silent, watching her with distant eyes and a sudden resolve.

She continued to call his name softly to not alert possible people outside her door.

And he listened to the painful sound, the painful feeling of emptiness when her eyes never saw him, or when she would walk through him, her attempts to lure him out in vain. It hurt physically, mentally, and emotionally. Then pain only strengthened his resolve.

Perhaps, it would be best to stop all correspondence with the queen.

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**A/N: **My thanks to the few of you who followed, favorited, or reviewed.


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